[Viva] Fwd: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: ICW highlights dangerous threat Ebola quarantines pose to Women living with HIV in West African countries.

Thu Oct 30 14:10:56 PDT 2014

Sorry to inundate everyone today.  Please find enclosed a news release by
ICW Global.

Denise

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: ICW NA <icwnacontact at gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Oct 30, 2014 at 7:45 AM
Subject: Fwd: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: ICW highlights dangerous threat Ebola
quarantines pose to Women living with HIV in West African countries.
To: Karen Marcinczyk <gigicatraoine at gmail.com>

**Apologize for receipt of cross-postings**

Dear ICWNA members and Friends of ICWNA,

Please find attached this forwarded message comprising a press release from
ICW: "ICW highlights dangerous threat Ebola quarantines pose to women
living with HIV in West African countries."

The release details the statement of ICW on the status of the Ebola
outbreak as it is affecting women living with HIV, particularly in the
hardest hit countries of West Africa.  ICW describes the perilous situation
of women living with HIV having extreme difficulty obtaining their ARV
medications, adequate health care and sufficient food due to quarantines,
Ebola policies and overwhelmed health care facilities.

ICW *"calls upon the governments of Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea to
adopt less restrictive public health measures and demands that, under all
circumstances, women living with HIV are provided feasible, safe, and
non-discriminatory access to their essential ARV medications and treatment.
It also urges governments around the world and global institutions to
increase their support for a response to Ebola that reflects human rights
principles and responds to the specific concerns of people living with
HIV." (See press release attached.)*

Please join me, all of ICWNA and ICW in supporting a human rights based
response to Ebola including meeting the essential needs of people living
with HIV.

Best,

Karen

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter,
and those who matter don't mind.”
― Bernard M. Baruch
<http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5768330.Bernard_M_Baruch>

Karen L. Marcinczyk, MS
Regional Coordinator
International Community of Women Living with HIV
North America (ICWNA)

aka "Gigi"

icwnacoordinator at gmail.com
icwnacontact at gmail.com
gigicatraoine at gmail.com
Skype: karen.marcinczyk1
917-656-5425

*"*I AM ICW!*"*

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jessica whitbread <jessicaicwglobal at gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Oct 30, 2014 at 9:33 AM
Subject: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: ICW highlights dangerous threat Ebola
quarantines pose to Women living with HIV in West African countries.
To:

*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*

*ICW highlights dangerous threat Ebola quarantines pose to women living
with HIV in West African countries.*

*October 29, 2014, Abuja, Nigeria, West Africa –* As the world grapples
with the deadliest outbreak of Ebola to date, the International Community
of Women Living with HIV (ICW), the only global network for and by women
living with HIV, releases a statement expressing its deep concerns about
the unintended but potentially deadly consequences of the Ebola crisis and
response for people living with HIV. ICW’s statement highlights reports
from ICW members living in countries hardest hit by the Ebola outbreak,
particularly Liberia and Sierra Leone, that measures taken in the name of
public health have severely restricted their safe access to essential
anti‑retroviral medications (ARVs).

ICW reports that women living with HIV under quarantine have been unable to
access their medications. Women living with HIV who are not currently
quarantined must overcome extreme fear to go to health facilities and
hospitals to access their ARVs, and those who do make it to health
facilities have frequently been turned away because the facilities have
closed or do not have the capacity to see them. Says one ICW member in
Sierra Leone, “*Everything here is scary. Women are being forced to
disclose their status. They are afraid to go to the hospital. Women under
quarantine cannot get their ARVs. You do not get attention because the
medical staff is also afraid*.”

Consistent access to ARVs is critical for people living with HIV to stop
the progression of HIV and to ensure that they do not develop deadly
resistance to their ARV medications. This is particularly critical for
those in the West African context who may only have access to specific ARV
formulations. If people living with HIV develop resistance to the form of
ARV treatment they have access to, they are unlikely to be able to obtain
access to additional drug lines. For women living with HIV, consistent
access to ARVs and antenatal care services are essential for the prevention
of vertical transmission of HIV during pregnancy.

The statement also reports that women living with HIV face forced
disclosure of their HIV status in multiple contexts, including to food aid
workers in order to ask for assistance in obtaining their medications and
to security personnel at checkpoints, and in order to gain access to health
facilities. Disclosure of HIV status places women at increased risk of
stigma, discrimination, and violence in their homes and communities.

In addition to lack of access to essential medicines, food and water
shortages among quarantined residents create the potential for further
humanitarian crisis. ICW’s statement highlights that women living in
quarantined areas have reported that the food provided by the government is
often expired and not fit for human consumption. In other areas, ICW
members have reported that individuals under quarantine must rely solely on
the support of families and communities to share what meager food and water
they have.

A lack of access to adequate and proper nutrition is particularly dangerous
for people living with HIV who require adequate nutrition to help manage
side effects from medications and to strengthen their immune systems to
fight off opportunistic infections. Less restrictive measures, such as
individual isolation and voluntary limits on movement, in combination with
home-based care and food aid, are effective and demonstrate a greater
respect for human rights.[1]
<#1496184e4f20c386_1496143c1c1f949e_14961253b4900156_1496109f962e2018__ftn1>

“*While we appreciate the gravity of this crisis and the significant
challenges faced by governments and international agencies coordinating a
rapid response, we must ensure that fear has no place in our public health
responses, and ensure that people have access to the essential medicines
they need. We should respond to this outbreak from a place of compassion
and with deep respect for human rights*,” says Rebecca Matheson, ICW Global
Director. “*The health, rights, and dignity of people living under
quarantine, particularly women living with HIV, cannot be ignored*,” adds
Assumpta Reginald, ICW West Africa Regional Coordinator.

In its statement, ICW calls upon the governments of Sierra Leone, Liberia,
and Guinea to adopt less restrictive public health measures and demands
that, under all circumstances, women living with HIV are provided feasible,
safe, and non-discriminatory access to their essential ARV medications and
treatment. It also urges governments around the world and global
institutions to increase their support for a response to Ebola that
reflects human rights principles and responds to the specific concerns of
people living with HIV.

*-ENDS-*

*For more information please contact:*

*Assumpta Reginald, ICW West Africa Regional Coordinator *

Email: assumptang76 at yahoo.com  | Mobile: +234 803 597 8870  | Skype:
assumptang76

*Rachel Oostendorp, ICW Global Office *

Email: rachelicwglobal at gmail.com | Mobile: +1 616-308-3310 | Skype:
rachel.oostendorp

------------------------------

[1]
<#1496184e4f20c386_1496143c1c1f949e_14961253b4900156_1496109f962e2018__ftnref>
*See
*Human Rights Watch, *West Africa- Respect in Ebola Response- Protect
Health Workers, Limit Quarantines, Promote Transparency* (September 15,
2014), available at: http://allafrica.com/stories/201409161130.html?page=3;
Amber Hildebrandt,* Ebola outbreak: Why Liberia’s quarantine in West Point
slum will fail: A relic of the Middle Ages, quarantines do more harm than
good*, CBC News, Aug. 25, 2014, available at:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/ebola-outbreak-why-liberia-s-quarantine-in-west-point-slum-will-fail-1.2744292
.

Jessica Whitbread
ICW I Community Relations and Mobilization Manager
email: jessicaicwglobal at gmail.com
skype: jessicalynnwhitbread

*I AM ICW*

-- 
www.denise-becker.com
Queen's Gold Jubilee Medal
Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal
cell: 778-903-5106
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